


all i want

by strangerblakes



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, My First Work in This Fandom, ya'll i promise you'll love this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8165609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangerblakes/pseuds/strangerblakes
Summary: “all i want is nothing more, than to hear you knocking at my door. cause if i could see your face once more, i could die a happy man i’m sure.when you said your last goodbye, i died a little bit inside. i lay in tears in bed all night. alone, without you by my side,”all i want // kodaline ...eleven returns to hawkins five years later, but she doesn’t seek out familiarity right away. instead, she stays with hawkins high school counsellor, camilla adams, who is absolutely fascinated with the girl. it takes a while, but camilla turns eleven into a normal teenage girl before bringing her to where she truly belonged, the arms of mike wheeler....





	1. part one; camilla and eleven meet

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time posting something on here, so let's see how this goes. hope you enjoy !!

november 1988

it was raining, it was cold and most of all, it was just miserable outside. camilla felt pity for anyone who had to be outside in this weather, herself included. 

“sunny with a hint of cloud, my ass,” she muttered, holding her messenger bag over her head as she jogged towards the bus stop. in heels no less, “great, now i have to stand here, soaking wet and wait for the bus. fantastic.” 

maybe taking a job thirty minutes away from her home wasn’t such a good idea. not having a car didn’t help either, taking the bus everywhere isn’t ideal anymore. sure, when she was a teenager it was fine. but now, being twenty four, it, to put it simply, sucks. 

“pretty,” a small, shaky voice said, catching camilla off guard. 

camilla eerily looked to her left, her eyes being met with a pair of brown ones which then looked back down at camilla’s floral print heels. 

camilla herself took a second to observe the girl, who was dressed in a tattered pink dress that was clearly too small, a worn out blue jacket and beat up white converse. she looked, to camilla, about seventeen. this lead her to wonder, where did you come from?

“h-hi,” camilla stuttered out, “you like my shoes?” 

eleven looked up at camilla and slightly nodded, “pretty, really pretty.” 

limited vocabulary, interesting, camilla thought. 

in the distance, camilla could see the bus. what was she gonna do with this girl? she can’t just leave her, it’s clear she needs some sort of help. 

“i h-have lots more at home, d-do you want to see them?” camilla asked, mentally punching herself at how creepy that sounded. but the girl didn’t seem to pick up on that as she nodded. 

 

it didn’t pose much of a struggle getting eleven home with camilla. all eleven wanted was somewhere warm to spend the night, camilla was the first person she saw. seeing her cool shoes was a bonus though. 

camilla had kindly offered eleven new clothes, a blanket and a warm drink. 

“okay,” camilla said, taking a seat next to eleven on her couch, “let’s start with introductions, my name is camilla, but you can call me cam if you like. what’s yours?”

“eleven, el for short,” she replied quietly. 

camilla nodded, “el, okay. i just have one more question, where are you from? or where did you come from?” 

eleven hesitated a bit, knowing she might not believe her, “t-the upside down.” 

camilla almost hit the ceiling, she’d definitely heard that somewhere. her brain started running a million miles an hour trying to figure out where or who she had heard that from before. 

“the upside down, huh? well, i promise you, you’ll never have to go back there. you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like,” camilla lightly smiled. “so, el. i’m sure you’re hungry-”

“eggos,” eleven cut her off before she could finish the sentence. 

despite being in her mid twenties, camilla still ate like a seven year old. her freezer was full of all that bullshit, camilla loved eggos. 

“your lucky day, i just went shopping,” camilla smiled.

camilla went over and popped a few eggos into the toaster, then pulled out her notebook from her messenger bag. she was determined to figure out where she’d heard of the upside down. surely, one of the kids she’s talked to mentioned it. 

she flipped through her notes from a few weeks back, there has to be something in here. there is no way she just imagined it. 

“here it is,” she whispered, “mike wheeler.”

eleven looked over at camilla at the mention of mike’s name, causing her to raise an eyebrow. she knows mike? 

before camilla could read more of the notes, the eggos popped up out of the toaster. she placed them on a plate and brought them to eleven. she promptly ate the eggos faster than camilla could snap her fingers. 

looking over at the clock on the wall, it was getting late and camilla had work in the morning. but what was she to do with eleven? 

“tomorrow,” camilla cleared her throat, “you think you’ll be okay here by yourself?”

el tentatively nodded, “school?”

“sort of, i work at one. i work at the high school. but i’ll be back at 3-”

“3:15,” eleven cut her off once again. 

it’s like she’s done this before. 

“you’re a smart one, aren’t you?” 

eleven just stared at her, not in a bad way. she was just confused. 

camilla sighed, “alright, you can sleep out here, i can get you some blankets or you can stay in the guest room.”

“my own room?” el asked, her eyes getting a little brighter. 

“here, i’ll show you,” 

camilla stuck out her hand slowly, nodding at eleven telling her it’s okay. slowly, the two of them made their way into camilla’s rarely used guest room. the only times it gets used is when friends or her parents visit, which isn’t often. 

watching eleven walk around the room, running her hands over every surface, camilla leaned in the door frame. 

“you like it? because it’s all yours,” camilla smiled, “i can bring you some of my old clothes. you can go through them and keep what you want.”

eleven liked the sound of that. no, she loved the sound of that. 

“here you go,” camilla returned, dropping a massive box down in the middle of the room, “i’m going to bed, but please don’t hesitate to come get me in you need anything. i’m just right down the hall, alright?” 

el nodded, “night, cam.”

“goodnight, el,” camilla slowly shut the door, leaving it open slightly just in case eleven didn’t like it shut all the way or something. 

“now, i need answers,” 

camilla changed into pajamas and hopped into bed with her notebook, this was the key. through her sessions with the kids, she jotted down notes here and there that she thought were important. most of the time, she just doodled on the paper. but with mike wheeler, she wrote an entire paragraph about him and what he told her. 

september 21 1988

mike wheeler;

the session started slow, but once i assured him that whatever he told me never left the room, he really opened up. he told me about how he met this girl, she was special, she pretty much died protecting him and his friends. (or at least that’s what i picked up) ever since then, he’s never been able to move on and that was over five years ago. i told him that it was okay to be feeling that way, grief is different for everyone. but then he said something that caught me off guard, he told me that she wasn’t dead. that she was just hiding, in what he calls ‘the upside down’ 

camilla gasped, “oh my god, eleven is the girl. the one he’s always on about.” 

september 28 1987

mike wheeler;

today he told me everything, more about the girl, his friend disappearing, the upside down, everything. 

“that’s why eleven looked at me when i said his name, they know each other,” 

camilla leaned back, trying to process all of this. 

all these years have gone by and mike still hasn’t let go of eleven, surely she hasn’t let go of him either. why else would she perk up at the sound of his name like that? 

oh god, i’m in a tough spot right now. should i reunite them? or just keep eleven here for a while? it’s clear that her vocabulary and knowledge is very limited, but i’m sure she’s teachable. 

if i’m going to get anything from her, i need to gain her trust. i remember mike telling me something like that. 

my endgame here is for them to finally reunite. mike seems to of fallen into this slump and i really think this could help him. 

and eleven? she’s spent five years in the upside down, pretty much anything would be better than that.


	2. part two; camilla and mike have a chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is part two !! hope you like it ! also, if you wanna follow me on tumblr that would be rad, strangerblakes

ever since camilla had figured out the connection between mike and eleven, she’s been itching to talk to him. just to ask him a little more about eleven, to see the similarities between his explanation and the girl who was currently at camilla’s house. once she knew a little bit more about el from mike, she would ask her about mike.

five years is a long time to be away from someone, and the fact that he still holds onto the memories of her so strongly and the way he sort of lights up when talking about her, it just makes camilla’s heart swell. 

...

“hi mike,” camilla warmly smiled as the boy sat in the chair across from her desk. she noticed he looked a little more ‘down’ than usual. maybe it had something to do with eleven, “something’s bothering you.”

“today is exactly five years, since she disappeared,” mike sighed, slumping down in the chair, “i know it’s a little pointless to still have hope that she’s still alive.”

“no,” camilla shook her head, “if you believe she’s still out there somewhere, she is.”

“i know, but it just seem foolish now,”

the only way i can get through to these kids, is to connect with them on a personal level.

camilla put down her pen and closed her notebook, “no, it’s not. you know why?”

mike shook his head, wondering what camilla was about to tell him.

“i understand what you’re going through,” she sighed, “when i fourteen, my best friend went missing. everyone thought, including her own parents, thought she just wandered off and would be back in the next couple of days. the only one who didn’t believe that, was me. when everyone gave up hope, i was the only one who kept searching.”

mike sort of understood where she was coming from, but really couldn’t find the point in this story.

“look, the point is; never give up hope. i still, to this day, believe she’s out there somewhere. it’s been almost ten years, mike. understand?”

“i just,” he ran a hand through his hair, “miss her, a lot.”

camilla closed her eyes and slowly exhaled, i can’t just keep her a secret from him. i mean, he’s obviously still torn up about it. but it’s too early, i promised el.

“i know, mike. but instead of wallowing in the past, let’s think of the future. tell me, in as much or as little detail you like, what you think it would be like if you were to finally see her again.”

mike thinks about this a lot, it’s really what keeps him awake at night.

“honestly? i’ve thought of this scenario a million times over, but i think this one is my favourite,”

camilla had done it, she’d finally gotten somewhere with him. this is exactly what she wanted.

“one day i just want to walk into a room, and she’s there. i just want to see her, to touch her, to make sure she’s actually real and not part of some dream,”

keeping eleven from mike is gonna be harder than i thought. poor mike has fallen for this girl and still isn’t even sure if she’s alive anymore. 

...

just as she was heading out of the building, camilla was stopped by some of mike’s friends. dustin, will and lucas. 

“um, hi boys. is there something you need?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t anything too serious because she needed to get back to eleven as soon as possible.

“you know about eleven, right?” dustin asked, leaning in closer.

she had talked with all of these boys about her, but mostly mike.

camilla nodded, “yes, is there something else i should know?”

“we think she’s back,” dustin said, “well, the three of us do. we haven’t told mike because we don’t want him getting his hopes up for nothing.”

“what makes you think that?”

lucas pulled a compass out of his backpack, showing it to camilla. she noticed it wasn’t pointing ‘true north’

a compass can be redirected when in the presence of a stronger magnetic field, she remembered dustin’s exact words from a few weeks ago when he was telling her about what happened all those years ago.

in order to keep the fact that eleven was sitting in her house right at this exact moment, camilla needed to act surprised and keep them talking.

“right, so what does this mean?”

“it means that, the gate to the upside down is open, or was open,”

should i just tell them about eleven and make them promise not to tell mike? or just keep it a secret for now?

camilla sighed, “alright, i’m gonna tell you something and you have to promise me your freaking life that you will not tell mike.”

the three boys nodded intently.

“you’re right. eleven has come back. she came up to me last night just as i was leaving work,” camilla took in a sharp breath, “s-she’s at my house right now.”

their eyes widened, “c-can we see her?”

“not yet,” camilla shook her head.

“why not? do not see how depressed mike has been acting?” lucas shouted.

“look, she asked me not to tell you guys. she wants to wait until she’s ready,”

“and when will that be?”

“soon, i promise,” camilla lightly smiled, “you’re probably aware of how limited her vocabulary is and how much she doesn’t understand about everything around her. she wants me to teach her a few things, that’s all.”

“fine, but keeping this from mike is going to extremely hard, you know that right? that boy doesn’t go a day without talking or thinking about her. it’s actually starting to get annoying,” dustin sighed, earning a smack upside the head from lucas and narrowed eyes from will. 

“just cut him some slack, will you?”

“cut who some slack?” mike’s voice startled all four of them as he walked around the corner. this caused camilla to slowly back up, careful not to trip. 

“well, i need to get going, i’ll see you boys tomorrow!” camilla smiled, turning around and walking away from that situation as fast as she could. the boys could make up whatever lies they could think of, she didn’t care. 

...

“you find enough ways to entertain yourself today?” camilla asked eleven, watching her contently scribble on some paper camilla had given her earlier.

eleven nodded, glancing into the living room where she had taken out all of camilla’s pretty heels. camilla didn’t mind, she liked that eleven was comfortable in her house.

“so, i talked to mike today,” camilla began, catching el’s full attention, “are you sure you don’t want to see him sooner? or at least let him know you’re okay?”

el shook her head, “not yet.”

“okay, i just wanted to make sure,”

camilla’s heart hurt at the thought of mike, she wanted so badly to at least tell him that eleven is okay. he deserves something.

but she had to think of the girl sitting across from her first. she was about seventeen, but had the mental equity that of a second grader. though it seemed like she knew a lot, she just didn’t know how to put any of it into words.

it wasn’t going to be easy. but somehow, camilla was going to turn eleven into the normal teenage girl she so desperately wants to be.


	3. part three; camilla and el have a heartfelt chat

it had only been about two weeks, but camilla had managed to teach eleven quite a lot.

now, instead of saying about two or three words, she could successfully string together sentences. camilla and her could have a somewhat normal conversation, with the occasional bump or two, but for now it will do just fine.

the hard part is trying to get her to pick up on certain things, like sarcasm and social ques. that’s the part that needs the most work. for now, camilla is just happy she can finally talk to eleven about different things.

but the one thing eleven refuses to talk about, even when camilla asks nicely, is mike. there was no explanation as to why. it’s very clear that eleven misses him and wants to see him, camilla can just tell. but there’s just something standing in the way. she’ll talk about lucas and dustin, even will and they never technically met, but just not mike. almost like she’s afraid to, it’s the strangest thing. (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?)

“so, el,” camilla began, sitting next to the girl, “i was thinking we could go into town and you could pick out some new clothes, just so you don’t have to keeping wearing all of my old stuff.”

“i like your clothes though,” eleven replied.

camilla had given el her wardrobe from when she was in high school, which entirely consisted of skirts, cropped sweaters and collared t shirts. for some unforeseen reason, eleven seemed to love it. 

“you sure? we buy all of the same things, maybe in different colours and designs,” camilla tried pulling her in.

this sparked eleven’s interest as she looked up to meet camilla’s eyes, she smiled, “okay.”

...

seemingly, every time camilla turned her back, eleven had another item of clothing picked out. truly, this was entirely her doing. she just told eleven to go wild and pick out whatever she wanted.

when they got home, eleven retreated into her room to try everything on and camilla cleaned up a little.

the sound of her phone ringing startled her, she sighed as she picked it up.

“hello?”

“he’s onto us!”

“dustin? who are you talking about?”

although it was strange he was calling her, at home, on a sunday evening. that really wasn’t her biggest concern.

“mike! he knows we’re hiding something from him. i don’t know how much longer we can keep this up for,”

“shit,” camilla sighed, “eleven refuses to even talk about mike. i-i have no idea where to start,”

“just, just tell her that mike is literally about to go crazy without seeing her soon, okay?” 

“fine, i’ll try and see what she says,” camilla looked down at her watch, “call me back in about two hours.”

“got it,”

hanging up the phone, camilla turned around. only to be face to face with eleven. how much of that could she hear?

“i’ll talk about him, but i won’t see him,” she shook her head, “not yet, anyways.”

camilla breathed out a sigh of relief, “that’s great. here, we can sit down and i’ll make us some tea. how does that sound?”

eleven silently nodded and hopped onto the counter and sat cross legged, something camilla encouraged her to do when the two of them were in the kitchen.

“does he miss me?”

camilla turned around, “you want the truth?”

eleven nodded.

“i cannot tell you the amount he’s come into my office, sat down and just talked about you and what it would be like if you would have stayed. he has a different story almost everyday, it’s so sweet,” camilla smiled, “he just wants you back is life, el. ever since that day, that’s all he’s ever wanted.”

eleven looked down to the floor, “i miss him too, a lot. i-i just wouldn’t know what to say. that’s why i wanted you to teach me all these things. the feelings are all there, i just have no idea how to put them into words.”

camilla placed a cup of tea next to her and hopped onto the counter as well, “here, i’ll help you. when you think of mike, what else do you think?”

“when i think of mike, i think of home, i think of happiness,” she lightly smiled, “i just, feel content when i think of him. i don’t know what you would call that.”

“love, my darling. that’s what it’s called,” camilla smiled, “the greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

“do you think mike loves me?”

camilla nodded, “i know he loves you, el. he’s never actually admitted it, but i know. oh, i know.”

this confused eleven, how does she know if he’s never actually told her?

“how? if he’s never told you?”

“love is a funny thing, as it can be expressed in so many different ways,” camilla explained, “for example, when mike talks about you, he talks about you like you’re the only person in the world. like no one else ever mattered or will ever matter more to him.”

“that’s,” eleven started blushing, “really sweet.”

“so,” camilla started, “does this change your mind about seeing him any sooner?”

eleven shrugged, “a little, but i want it to be special you know?”

suddenly, an idea popped into camilla’s head, “there’s a winter formal in a few weeks. how about we do it then? it’s like the high school version of the snowball.”

eleven’s eyes brightened, “i promised mike we’d go. friends don’t break promises.”

“we can go buy a dress, get your hair done, we can do your makeup and i’ll let you pick your favorite pair of my shoes to wear. how does that sound?”

eleven nodded, “it sounds good, i like it.”

“then it’s a date!” camilla proclaimed, “now we just have to somehow convince mike to go and then we’ll be set.”

“dustin, lucas and will,” she was quiet again, “can they help?”

“of course,” camilla nodded, “i’ll let them know about everything tomorrow.”

everytime camilla said mike’s name, eleven just started smiling. like she was imagining all the different scenarios in her head. it was the sweetest thing.

“i just have one question. do you want to tell mike now? or keep it a secret until the actual day and surprise him?”

“what do you think?”

“you said you wanted it to be special, right?”

“super special,” eleven cut in.

“okay, well i feel like we should surprise him. just think about how happy he’ll be to see you, standing there, looking super pretty in your dress,”

“i like that,” eleven smiled.

“awesome. i’ll talk to the boys tomorrow and get things started,”

“c-can i see them?” eleven’s voice was small.

this caught camilla by surprise, “you want to? i guess they could come by here, or we could try and bring you to my office. you know, without mike catching us.”

“the safest option would be them coming here, right?” eleven lightly laughed.

“yes,” camilla smiled, “tomorrow i’ll also arrange for them to some and see you, sound good?”

eleven smiled brightly back, “sounds great, i’m excited.”

...

later that night, after eleven had gone to sleep, dustin finally called camilla back.

“we have to keep more secrets from mike? oh, i don’t feel good about this,”

“it’s only for like two more weeks, just until the winter formal. that’s when el agreed to finally see mike,”

she could hear dustin gasp, “shit, he’s gonna love that. but it might be hard getting him there though, he hasn’t gone to any school dances since then.”

“by then, you mean five years ago?”

“yeah, we tried getting him to come, but we just gave up after the second year,”

“so this is going to be harder than i thought, great,”

“don’t worry though, we can convince him, somehow,”

“that’s good, that’s good,” camilla nodded, “but uh, i’m sure you’ve got other things to do right now, so i’ll let you go. but i still need to talk to you guys tomorrow, so swing by my office anytime.”

“alright, bye cam,”

“bye, dustin,”

camilla thought it would be better for the kids to call her by her first name, rather than miss adams. to her, that sounds too professional. kids in high school don’t even want to be talking to counsellors in the first place, so she wanted to make herself sound more like a friend than a counsellor.

over the past few weeks, she’s seen so much of dustin, lucas, will and mike that she could go as far as calling them friends. she’s not sure if that’s how they think of her, but really, in a few months none it will matter as they’ll all have graduated and moved on with their lives.

but she just can’t help but think of their futures, especially that of mike and eleven’s.

camilla shook her head, “all of this can wait for tomorrow. i’m too tired for this.”


	4. part four; camilla, el, dustin, will and lucas make 'the plan'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the comments and kudos on the previous chapters!! it means a lot :')

arriving into work that next morning, camilla started sweating at the thought of mike coming and talking to her. she feels absolutely terrible for keeping eleven a secret from mike this long and will continue to feel terrible for the next two weeks as they plan the ‘big reunion’ as dustin calls it. 

stepping into the safety of her small office, camilla closed the door behind her and leaned against the it.

“okay cam, you’ll be fine,” she told herself, “it’s not like you’re keeping this possibly life changing secret from a boy who’s pretty much ripping apart at the seams. yes, this is totally okay.”

“camilla?” there was a knock on the door, “it’s dustin.”

“uh, hold on a sec,” she threw her bag to the side and made her way to her desk, “alright, come in.”

the door opened, revealing the three boys, “good morning, boys! sit down, sit down.”

the three of them pulled up chairs and sat across from her, “okay, so what’s happening here.”

“eleven, she wants to see you guys,”

they all looked around, assuming she was somewhere in the office, “is she here?”

“no,” camilla shook her head, “she’s still at my house. we both agreed that if she did come with me, there would be the chance of us running into mike. so i told her you guys would go to her. now, i wouldn’t normally do something like this, but this is different. i’m gonna write my address on this piece of paper and you can swing by later this evening, okay?”

“how much longer are we going to keep this from mike?” lucas asked. camilla assumed dustin had told them about the formal thing, she assumed wrong.

“two weeks,” dustin cut it, “mike and el are meeting again at the winter formal.”

“yes, that’s why el wants to talk to you. she wants your help, she wants it to be special and i feel like you guys can help her with that. there’s really only so much i can do,”

“you’ve already done so much, you’re the one who found her!”

“technically she found me, but we can overlook that,” camilla nodded, looking at her watch, “but class starts soon, so you guys better go.”

they all nodded as they stood up, “right. mike starts getting suspicious if any of us show up anywhere late.”

camilla sighed, “you can’t tell him about any of this, got that?”

the three boys nodded again, picking up on how stressed camilla seems about the situation.

“don’t worry cam,” dustin smiled, opening the door for lucas and will, “this secret is safe with us.”

she watched them exit the room, and waited for the door to close, “i sure hope so.”

...

the day dragged on slowly, with camilla having nothing to do other than random paperwork. camilla, like most, doesn’t particularly like monday.

finally walking into the comfort of her house, she kicked off her heels and made her way to the kitchen. all of the counter space seemed to be covered in cupcakes?

“eleven?” she called out, not seeing her anywhere.

“i made cupcakes!” eleven exclaimed, popping up from behind the counter, startling camilla.

camilla lightly laughed, “you did, and a lot of them.”

“since you told me that dustin, will and lucas were coming over, i made them these!”

eleven seemed extremely proud of herself and camilla loved that.

camilla nodded, picking up a cupcake and taking off the wrapping, “see, i told you that learning how to cook and bake wasn’t a useless skill.”

she looked around to also see the giant mess eleven had made, “now, i need to teach you one last thing. cleaning up afterwards.”

“i was getting there,” eleven furrowed her brows, “you interrupted me.”

“is that so?” camilla raised an eyebrow, “then i’ll leave you to it.”

eleven nodded, “it’ll be like i was never even here.”

“oh i’ll be the judge of that,” camilla chuckled, entering the living room and collapsing on the couch. “oooh i hate mondays.”

her eyes fluttered shut slowly, “hmm, nothing a good nap can’t fix.”

...

“i bet you it’s because of the stress,”

“stress? what is that?”

“something you get a lot when you’re her age,”

“dustin! that’s rude, everyone gets stressed,” 

“she’s not even that old,”

“how old do you think she is, anyways?”

“what does that have to do with anything?”

“it doesn’t, i’m just curious,”

camilla jolted up suddenly, “what’d i miss?”

around her sat eleven, dustin, lucas and will. all holding back their laughter, especially eleven.

“when did you guys get here?” she asked, sitting up and fixing her hair.

“about an hour ago, eleven let us in,” lucas informed her, “don’t worry, we actually did something in that time. we were just waiting for you to wake up so we could run it by you.”

“alright, show me then,”

will grabbed a piece of paper that was sitting on the coffee table behind them and handed it to her. she scanned over it and it didn’t seem too bad. they had one thing circled though, getting mike there.

“you still don’t know how you’re getting mike there?” she asked, her eyes darting between the three boys.

dustin shrugged, “we have an idea, but we’re not sure if it’ll work or not.”

“an idea is better than nothing,”

“okay, so we’re just gonna tell him that it’s his senior year blah blah blah and that he can’t keep skipping out on these things. this is where you come in, once we kind of get the idea into his head we’re fairly certain he’ll come talk to you about it and then you’ll convince him to go and then we’re on our way,”

“that’s actually pretty good,” camilla looked over to eleven, “now, a lot of this is all for you, did you have any ideas?”

a few days ago camilla had told eleven that whatever she could think of, she would promise to make it happen. since camilla was the head of the ‘school dance committee’ there probably wasn’t anything she couldn’t do.

eleven happily nodded, “i want him to walk in and i’m the only person in there. that’s it.”

that’s like one of the scenarios mike told me about, ‘one day, i just want to walk into a room and she’ll be there.’

“consider it done,” camilla nodded, earning one of the brightest smiles she’s seen from eleven. “and boys, since you’re curious, i’m twenty four.”

(the following is a load of horse shit, but since this is fiction i can do whatever i want)

“b-but you have a master’s degree, it’s hanging in your office. how is that even possible?” dustin asked, earning a smack upside the hide from will and lucas. eleven laughed at the gesture.

“you never learn, do you?”

camilla laughed, “no no, it’s okay. i usually don’t tell people this, but i have an above average iq and because of that i was able to complete my master’s at this age,”

“then why don’t you have a phd?”

“i could have one, if i wanted. but really, i’m a high school counsellor in a small town. i could have gotten this job with just a bachelor’s degree in psychology. you following me on this?”

(load of horse shit over)

they all nodded, clearly wanting to drop the subject, which camilla picked up on, “all that aside, let’s just make this clear one more time. mike cannot know about any of this, especially the fact that you guys got to see eleven.”

they all sighed, “we know.”

“only two more weeks boys, i know you can keep the secret,”

“we know we can, we’re just worried about you. it’s obvious that keeping this from him is stressing you out a little bit,” will told her.

camilla sighed, “don’t worry about me, i got this.”

“mmmhmm,”

...

later that night, once the boys had left, camilla had trouble looking for eleven. after looking in every room of the house, she found her sat in her closet, with camilla’s pair of floral heels sitting in front of her.

“are those the one’s you want to wear?” camilla asked, catching eleven off guard slightly.

eleven looked up to her, “yes.”

“since they’re printed, your dress needs to be a solid colour. how are we feeling about a black dress. they say black compliments curves the best,”

“curves?”

“yeah,” camilla ran her hands along her sides, “curves.”

“oh, i get it,” eleven said, even though camilla knew she didn’t. they could get into that another day. 

“anyways, are you excited?”

eleven stood up, meeting camilla’s height, “i’m so excited. i’m happy you’re here to help.”

camilla never had siblings, but spending these past few weeks with eleven made it feel like she did.

without another word, eleven moved forward and wrapped her arms around camilla.

“thank you, cam,”

camilla wrapped her arms around eleven as well, “you’re welcome, my darling.”


	5. part five; mike almost finds out

one week. that’s how long there is until the winter formal and only one more week of camilla almost having a nervous breakdown every time she see’s mike in the hallways.

it’s not like she’s afraid of spilling everything to him, it’s just about how terrible she feels about keeping eleven a secret for so long.

“assholes,” mike’s voice scared her, causing her to almost fall out of her chair.

“alright, let’s just calm down for a second, who are we talking about anyways?”

“i don’t exactly have other friends, so who else would i be talking about?” he huffed, taking a seat in front of her desk.

camilla tried holding back her laughter at his sudden sassy demeanor, “right, what’s happening?”

“the stupid winter formal, they want me to go,”

just as dustin said, he would come and talk to me. and here he is.

“why not?”

mike shrugged, “honestly? i don’t even know. i haven’t been to any school dance or whatever for five years. why even bother now?”

“because it’s your last year of high school, it should mean something,”

“that’s what they told me too, what is that even supposed to mean? i’ve been having a shit time regardless, so is this really gonna change anything?”

crap, he’s really set on not going. what do i even tell him without ruining everything? camilla thought.

“look, i’m not saying that going to this dance will change your life or anything, but why not go with the mindset that something good may come out of it,”

mike looked up at her with a hint of sadness in her eyes, she knew what he was going to say and he knew it.

“you can’t let your guilt over losing eleven stop you from doing certain things, mike. yes, it will always be a part of you, but it’s not all of you,”

it’s not all of you, those words repeated in mike’s head over and over again.

“you’re right, i’ve been letting this dictate my life for too long. so i’m gonna go do that dance, and i’m gonna at least try and enjoy it,”

with that sudden proclamation, mike stood up and marched out of camilla’s office.

camilla sat there, taking in all this information. this was great, now the plan can go along smoothly.

trying to contain her sudden excitement, camilla picked up the phone sitting on her desk and called eleven. before she had left this morning, eleven had asked her that no matter what mike says, call her and tell her.

“well? is he going?” eleven answered the phone, getting right to the point.

“i, with utmost excitement can say, yes,”

camilla wouldn’t say eleven squealed, but really, it was something like that.

“since you’re obviously excited, remember that dress i was talking to you about the other day? well, i called the boutique and bought it. i’m gonna pick it up on my way home today,”

“the really nice black one you said was simple but elegant?”

“that’s the one,”

eleven gasped, “you didn’t.”

“nothing but the best for you, my dear,”

“oh my god, oh my god, this is gonna be so great, i cannot wait,”

“in the meantime you better practice walking in those shoes, it took me awhile to get used to them,”

“by the time you get home, i’ll be walking like a supermodel,”

“other than that, how’s your day been so far? i hope you haven’t made more cupcakes,”

“it’s been good. i got bored and went through some of the books you keep on that big shelf, they were kinda boring because they didn’t have pictures,”

“until you’re better at reading none of those will be interesting, most of them are my old college textbooks,”

outside camilla’s office, mike hadn’t strayed that far away. he was, in a non weird way, listening to camilla’s conversation.

down around the other corner, stood dustin. he could see mike standing right outside camilla’s office and wondered just what the hell he was doing. he had been there for at least five minutes.

“alright see you later, el,”

mike flinched at that but also lead him to wonder, was she talking to eleven? no, she couldn’t be.

“camilla,” he entered the office again, “who was that you were talking to?”

“m-my cousin, eleanor?” she said, making it almost sound like a question.

oh my god, he was listening to me talk to eleven on the phone and he’s on to me, how am i gonna get out of this alive?

“eleanor, huh?” he raised an eyebrow.

“mike! look at the time!” dustin marched into the small office, “isn’t it around this time you have english or something? right let’s go.”

as he pushed mike out, dustin looked back at camilla and mouthed ‘sorry’

camilla leaned back, breathing heavily, that was way too much for her.

mike almost found out about eleven and it was almost my fault.

“time to go get some coffee, hopefully my shaking will stop with a nice cup of coffee. yeah,” she mumbled.

...

“as promised, here’s the dress,” camilla announced, laying the dress over the side of the couch.

“it’s even better than how you described it,” eleven smiled, running her fingers over the fabric.

“i’m happy you like it,”

eleven wrapped her arms around camilla again, “i love it. thank you.”

in the past few days, eleven has been a lot more ‘huggy’ camilla didn’t mind, she found it sweet.

“you know there’s nothing i wouldn’t do for you, el,”

eleven hugged camilla tighter, “you told me that love can be expressed in lots of different ways and there’s lots of ways to love things and people, and it’s all sort of confusing to me. but would be okay if i said that i loved you? like you said, in a sister type of way.”

eleven took a step back and looked up at camilla and she noticed there were tears in her eyes, “why are you crying? d-did i make you sad?”

“no, no,” camilla shook her head, “i just, you’re the closest thing i’ve ever had to a sister and i’m just really happy that you think of me like that.”

“you’re happy?”

camilla nodded, wiping away a few tears with the sleeve of her shirt, “incredibly so. i love you too, el.”

camilla pulled eleven in for another hug and the two stood there for ten minutes. this was the thing both of them desperately needed.

even though camilla spends her days around other people, she rarely spends her free time with anyone other than herself. having eleven around gives her a good reason to smile when she wakes up in the morning.

eleven? she’s spent the past five years all on her own. camilla, showed eleven the kindness and compassion she’s been craving for so long.

there’s only two people eleven loves and trusts with anything, mike wheeler and camilla adams.


	6. part six; the winter formal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the much anticipated winter formal !!! i cried while writing, so i hope you guys like it (':

“alright, let’s see,” camilla called out from the living room. 

the two of them spend the afternoon and part of the evening getting ready for the winter formal, which was in about an hour. 

eleven slowly walked into the living room, careful not to trip because of the shoes she was wearing. the dress fit her perfectly, her now long hair was pulled into a loose side braid and camilla had done her makeup for her. 

“damn, i did i good job,” camilla smiled, “but if we’re gonna be there before everyone, we should go now. and this time, i borrowed one of my friends cars, so we don’t have to take the bus.” 

“this day just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?”

...

"did you really do all of this? it’s amazing,” eleven said, looking around the decorated gym the formal was being held in. 

there were a few students milling around, making sure things were absolutely perfect, on the orders from camilla. she had spent countless days staying late after work, making sure everything she had ordered came in and that it was in fact what she ordered. she wanted to make this the best damn winter formal hawkins high school has ever seen. 

“i put my blood, sweat and tears into making this perfect,” camilla beamed, following closely behind eleven. 

“that doesn’t sound good, are you okay?” eleven turned around, voicing her concern for camilla.

“no, no i’m fine it’s just an expression,” 

“right,” eleven nodded, “i still need to learn a lot of those, don’t i?”

“yes, but let’s not think about that,” camilla changed the subject, “you said you wanted to be the only person in here when mike walks in, so where about do you want to be?”

eleven stopped right in the middle of the gym, all the lights around her were dim, almost making it look as if a single spotlight was shining on her, “this seems about right.” 

“perfect,” camilla smiled, looking down to check her watch, “the boys said they’d try and show up early so this whole thing works. so why don’t you just stay here and i’ll go wait outside. they shouldn’t be much longer.” 

eleven watched as camilla started walking towards the door, her heels clicking as she did, “okay. but cam?”

camilla turned back, “yeah, el?”

“is it normal for me to be kind of nervous right now?”

camilla walked back over to her, “why are you nervous, love?”

“i don’t even know if that’s what you can call it, i’m just really excited to see mike again,”

“everything you’re feeling is completely normal, don’t worry,” 

“promise?”

“promise,” camilla lightly smiled, “now, i’ll be back and when i am, you’ll get to see mike again.”  
“right,” eleven breathed out.

“now, everyone else, get out of here,” camilla shouted at the other students who gladly exited the gym. they all were starting to get annoyed with camilla’s dictator like demeanor in the past few days.

“be right back,”

meanwhile, mike trailed behind his friends as they walked through the hallway to the gym. he honestly didn’t know why they came so early, it’s not like anyone would be there yet. 

“tell me again,” mike spoke up, “why are we here so early?”

the three boys in front of him stopped and turned towards him, none of them were expecting him to ask that. 

“camilla asked us to help set up some things last minute, right guys?” lucas said, raising an eyebrow at dustin and will, who both nodded. 

“uh, okay,” mike sighed, hearing the click of heels in the distance. that must be her. 

camilla rounded the corner, not expecting to see them so soon.

“you look lovely, camilla,” dustin complimented her, causing her to lightly smile.

“why thank you dustin, you’re not looking too bad yourself,” she nodded, “come on now, i need your guys’ help with something.”

...

"mike, you can go in first,” 

“me? why me? don’t we all have something to do?” 

from inside the gym, eleven could hear mike’s voice and it made her breath hitch in her throat, he’s finally here. 

“why is everything an argument with you nowadays, damn. just go in,” dustin insisted, looking to the door and to mike. 

“fine, but i don’t understand wh-” mike cut himself off as he opened the door and locked eyes with her.

camilla, dustin, will and lucas stood in the doorway as mike slowly, but surely made his way towards eleven.

mike stopped inches away from her, still trying to believe it actually was her. in fact, the moment they locked eyes, he knew. her eyes were ones you couldn’t forget, her big, brown, seemingly ageless eyes. no matter how many years went by, they would always stay the same. 

“still pretty?” eleven quietly spoke. 

“pretty,” mike’s voice cracked slightly, “really pretty.” (HAHAHA I’M NOT CRYING, YOU ARE)

eleven wrapped her arms around mike and held onto him like it was the last time, “i missed you.” 

mike closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, “i missed you too, so much.”

the two pulled away from the hug, kept their arms around one another and rested their foreheads together. for the first time in over five years, mike finally feels content with the world.

eleven watched as a single tear fell down mike’s cheek, she remembered that when people cry it’s not always because they’re sad, often they’re just happy. 

“you’re not sad are you?” 

mike lightly shook his head, “no, not at all. i’m so happy you’re back, el.”

eleven smiled that wonderful smile of hers, “me too.”

behind them, camilla stood with the boys.

“we did it,” she breathed out, feeling a huge weight lift off her shoulders. 

“no, you did it camilla, we only played a small role in this,” dustin told her, “if it wasn’t for you, none of this would've ever happened. i don’t know about you, but don’t you think fate played a small role in this?”

she turned to look at him, “fate? really?”

“just think about it. eleven came up to you when she could've easily talked to anyone on the street she saw and then was it really a coincidence that you happened to be our counsellor and knew about everything? i think not,”

“fate or not,” camilla’s eyes flickered back to mike and eleven, who still stood with their arms around each other, “i’m just happy i could help.”


	7. part seven; christmas time is the best time, you know, most of the time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the kudos on the first six parts :') ya'll are too kind

december 20

it was chilly december afternoon and mike was out with eleven, helping her find the perfect gift for camilla.

“i think i overheard her saying she needs a new messenger bag and i agree. there’s a hole in the bottom of it and everyday a pen falls out of it, it drives her crazy. it’s kind of funny though,”

“okay, then let’s get her a new one. i’m sure she’ll love that,” mike said, holding the door open for eleven as they walked into another store.

in the past month, mike and his friends have been spending a lot more time around camilla. since eleven was staying with her, whenever they wanted to see eleven, they saw camilla too. normally, this would be weird, but there’s something about camilla that makes it normal.

all of the boys would be lying if they said they didn’t enjoy spending time with her and eleven. the two of them had formed this strong, sister like bond, making it like the two of them really were sisters.

plus, once you really get to know camilla, she one of the funniest people you’ll meet.

...

meanwhile back at the house, camilla had pulled out all of her christmas decorations and was having the time of her life. christmas was her favourite time of year, there was no denying that.

earlier in the week, she had bought eleven a gift she knew she would love. her own pair of floral heels. it took a lot of looking around, seeing as the shop camilla had bought hers had closed years ago.

camilla quietly hummed as she strung lights around her christmas tree, admiring the pretty colours.

she had also purchased an assortment of those tacky christmas sweaters everyone says they hate but wear anyway. because really, what’s christmas without them.

“yoo hoo!” a voice sing-songed, seemingly letting herself into the house, scaring the shit out of camilla, who definitely wasn’t expecting anyone.

grabbing the thing closest to her, which happened to be a large textbook, camilla made her way to the door.

“mom?” camilla stopped, watching her mother unravel the scarf around her neck. she also had a bag with her, meaning she planned on staying here.

“hello, darling,” she smiled, kicking off her boots and brushing past camilla and into the living room.

“i-i, didn’t know you were coming, you really should have called,” camilla sighed, following her back into the living room.

“i need a reason to see my daughter during the holidays. it’s not like you’ve got a boyfriend or friends to spend time with,”

“yeah, thanks for reminding me,” camilla grumbled, putting the textbook back on the shelf, “i hate to say this, but i already have someone staying with me and i don’t have the room for you, mum. i’m sorry.”

just as she said that, she heard the front door opening again, meaning mike and eleven were back.

“is that them?” her mother raised an eyebrow, eager to see who camilla is kicking her out for.

mike and eleven were laughing as they entered the living room, stopping dead in their tracks on camilla’s mother laid eyes on them.

her mother looked to her, giving her a weird look, “they look like they’re in high school. you’re an adult, camilla. this is just weird.”

eleven already took a disliking to mrs. adams, even though she didn’t quite understand what she meant, she knew by the tone of her voice and the way she was whispering loudly to camilla that she wasn’t being nice to her.

“who are they? your local charity case? just because you counsel troubled kids doesn’t mean you need to take in everyone you feel bad for. you must be pretty bad at your job if this is what you resort to,”

camilla could feel her blood start to boil, her mother did this all the time. constantly judging her and telling her that she’s gone nowhere with her life because she decided to be a counsellor at a small town high school.

“mum,” her tone was sharp, “you need to leave.”

eleven and mike had retreated to the kitchen, they really had no place in this.

“i’ll leave once you give me an explanation,”

“i don’t need to explain shit to you. this is my house and i want you out of it,”

her mother was appalled by the way camilla was acting, this wasn’t like her, at all. or at least, she thought it wasn’t. the last time her mother visited was well over two years ago, so really, she barely knows camilla now.

back in the kitchen, eleven voiced her concern to mike.

“she’s kicking her mother out, for me, i sort of feel bad,”

“why? her mother doesn’t seem like the nicest person. she said camilla was bad at her job, which she’s not and now is basically telling her that she’s done nothing with her life,”

eleven looked over to camilla, who looked like she was about to cry because of what her mother was saying to her. eleven didn’t like that so she decided to take things into her own hands. behind mrs. adams was a huge bookshelf, so eleven used to powers to make several books fall down one at a time.

“camilla? how did you do that?”

camilla pursed her lips, knowing this was eleven’s doing, “i didn’t.”

mrs. adams looked around, observing the house, “this house is quite old, isn’t it?”

camilla nodded, “yeah?”

several more books fell.

“how is that happening?” mrs. adams looked scared now, slowly making her way to the door, “this house is haunted.”

now camilla was holding back laughter, “i’m fairly certain it isn’t. but if you don’t feel comfortable staying here, by all means, leave.”

“i-i think i will,” mrs. adams collecting her things and pulled her boots back on, “maybe next time i’ll call.”

then she was gone.

camilla sighed, closing the door behind her. she didn’t exactly feel bad for not letting her mother stay, but she didn’t feel good about it either.

“your mother seems lovely,” eleven joked, finally grasping the concept of sarcasm. earning a stunned look from mike, who couldn’t tell if he was proud or just shocked she had said that.

“oh yeah, you’d love her,” camilla rolled her eyes, sitting across from the two at the table, “but really, she tires me. it’s always, camilla this, camilla that, i hate it. she’s never once praised me for the work i’ve done, i have a master’s degree and i’m twenty four for god’s sake. but let’s forget about that, how was your guys’ day?”

“it was good!” eleven smiled, looking at mike. “we finally picked out your gift, and i think you’ll love it.”

“i to, think you’ll love the gift i got you,” camilla winked, getting up to make herself some tea. that whole thing with her mother shook her up and she needed something to calm herself down.

“and we have to wait five more days until we can open them?”

“yes, el. december twenty fifth, you can wait five more days, can’t you?” mike cut in, answering before camilla could.

eleven slumped in her chair slightly, “i can, i’m just excited.”

and she should be, the boys and camilla had arranged for them to come over on christmas day and exchange gifts. ever since she mentioned it to eleven, she’s been excited ever since. 

maybe it’s because she was getting something from each of them or maybe she just likes spending time with everyone all together, camilla would never know.

all camilla really cares about anymore is making eleven happy, and as long as she has her eggos, mike and the boys around, camilla is fairly certain she’ll stay that way for a long time.


	8. part eight; camilla and el both make a decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one part left :'(

“so even after they’re done school, they can chose to go to even more school?” eleven was still trying to grasp the concept of university. she had the basics down, but still didn’t really see the point.

camilla had brought eleven along with her to the school before the graduation ceremony was to take place later that afternoon. the two of them were packing up a few things in camilla’s office for the summer.

“yep, it’s called university and all four of them are lined up to go to a different one,” camilla explained. she thought mike had explained all of this to eleven, upon finding out he got into MIT.

“they don’t stay together?” eleven asked with a hint of sadness behind it.

camilla sighed, “unfortunately not.”

eleven frowned, “oh. are you still friends with anyone you went to highschool with?”

“also, no. i didn’t make that many friends in high school and the one friend i did make, i told you about her, she disappeared,”

“christina,” eleven repeated her name, recalling the time camilla was talking about her.

-flashback-

three months earlier

“who is this? she’s pretty,” eleven asked, scanning over the pictures sitting atop camilla’s fireplace.

camilla looked up from her work, squinting to see the picture, “oh, that’s my friend, christina.”

“you both look really young,”

“that was taken when we were fourteen i think?”

“why aren’t there any recent ones?”

camilla sighed, taking off her reading glasses, “she went missing later that year. i haven’t seen her since.”

“missing? did anyone ever find her?”

camilla shrugged, “who knows. even if she was still out there, why would she come back to hawkins? there’s nothing here for her anymore.”

“do you miss her?”

“yeah, i do. but i know what she did, it was best for her. at the time, she was really struggling, her mind was in a bad place,”

“bad place? what do you mean?”

“she was diagnosed with depression the year before and she really wasn’t the same after that,”

-flashback over-

“do you think mike, dustin, will and lucas could still be friends, even when they’re separated?”

“i think so, i’ve seen my fair share of high school friend groups, and they seem the tightest knit. i’m sure that no matter where they all end up, something will always bring them back together,” camilla lightly smiled. “why? does this worry you?”

eleven shrugged, “i don’t know. these past few months have been some of the best i’ve had and soon enough everyone will be gone and i’ll be alone again. so i don’t know what to do.”

camilla sighed, having had this conversation with eleven before. they’d gone over a few different options but eleven wasn’t sure what to choose.

“here, sit down for a second,” camilla walked around to sit at her desk while eleven sat across from her, “you love mike, don’t you?”

eleven nodded, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks.

“he asked you to come to boston with him, right? well, i think you should. because i know you haven’t given him an answer yet, he’s been in and out of here for the past month asking me if i knew,”

eleven felt a little guilty that she hadn’t given him a definitive answer yet. there was a reason for it though, camilla.

“i would go with him in a heartbeat. b-but, i’ll miss you cam,”

“i’m always a phone call away, you know that,”

“b-but you’ve been a constant in my life for so long now, i don’t know what i’d do without you. besides, you’ve said it yourself, it’s just a dead end here in hawkins and you’ll always regret not getting your PhD,”

camilla hated that she was right. her whole goal of going into psychology was to one day get a doctorate, but somewhere along the way she gave up and ended up here in hawkins.

“el, i-”

“come on, cam. you told me that your dream school was harvard and you know where that is? cambridge, which is twenty minutes away from boston,”

“it’s not that easy, my dear. there would be a lot i’d have to do and there’s still a chance they won’t accept me into the program,”

“you’re the smartest person i know. they’d be silly not to accept you,”

camilla sighed, “still.”

“camilla. please. i know that this sounds stupid and desperate because it’s your life not mine, but can you please, just try?”

“eleven,” she stared the girl right in the eyes, about to tell her something she’d never thought she would ever bring up, “about a year ago, i did in fact submit an application to their graduate program and i was accepted. but i put it off because i got this job instead. they told me that i could join the program when the time felt right. i can’t promise you anything, but i can try and see if they’ll take me back now,”

“really?”

camilla lightly smiled, “i’d have to jump through a few hoops, but yeah. but there’s one thing i want you to do before i make any calls,”

“yeah?” eleven raised an eyebrow.

“you tell mike that you’ll go with him,”

...

the graduation went well, as well as they go. camilla had been to quite a few since working at the high school, now she just finds them boring. eleven loved it though, her favourite part was when all the students threw their caps into the air.

“i liked that,” eleven spoke, walking behind camilla as the two of them walked through the crowd to possibly find mike and the other boys.

“once you’ve been to enough, you’ll get bored of them, trust me,” camilla lightly laughed, seeing mike across the crowd.

eleven saw him too and walked ahead of camilla, going to throw her arms around mike. this wasn’t out of character in the slightest, eleven loved hugging people now. especially mike.

“yes,” she mumbled into his neck.

“yes, what?” he asked, slightly confused.

“yes, i’ll come with you to boston,”

camilla stood a few feet away, seeing mike’s face light up as eleven told him the good news. the rest of the boys lined up beside her, all smiling at one another. they did it, they graduated.

_i don’t think i’ve ever had a life changing experience before, but meeting eleven and getting to know each of these boys definitely has to be one of them._

_they all changed my life for the better._

_mike, dustin, will and lucas. man, i don’t think i’ve ever seen such a closely knit group of friends in my life. they’ve been to hell and back, and now here they are, graduating high school together._

_i just hope, that wherever they all end up, they’ll always find their way back to each other. no matter what._


	9. epilogue; five years later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> final part )': but i just wanna say thank you to all of ya'll who've said nice things about this fic, it means the world to me :)

five years ago, camilla was positive she was going to spend her rest of her life in the sleepy town of hawkins, sitting in an office, listening to teenagers rant about their typical teenage problems.

also five years ago, she promised a certain someone she’d go back to school to earn her PhD.

now, as she stands in her soon to be new office of her private psychology practice, she finally feels like she’s done something right with her life.

“i can’t believe it,” she smiled to herself, looking out the window to see the skyline of boston.

the two things that adorned her wall behind the desk was her master’s degree and her new PhD in clinical psychology.

“looks like you need some pictures for your desk,” a few familiar voices said behind camilla, “i think we have some.”

she turned around to see the ragtag group of boys she had met those five years ago. plus eleven of course.

“yeah? whatcha got for me?” she asked, placing her box of various personal belongings on the desk.

camilla was lucky enough to remain close to the boys and el throughout the years, as soon as everyone left hawkins, the idea of her once being someone who worked at their school vanished into thin air. they all became friends. because if you think about it, they’re not that far apart in age, what’s a few years gonna do? nothing. absolutely nothing.

“we have this one from the day we graduated, and then this one from the day you graduated,” mike handed her two framed photos, both from very special days to all of them.

it wasn’t a secret that camilla cried when she was super happy. right now, she was full on sobbing, causing everyone to get worried.

luckily for them, camilla had a box of tissue on her desk, prompting eleven to grab one for her.

camilla blew her nose, “thank you guys. wow. i can’t believe this.”

“you’ve done so much for us over the years, it’s the least we could do,”

that was true. even though the group was spread out across the country at different universities, whenever any of them had any sort of problem, camilla would be the first person they’d call. no matter what she was doing, she’d drop it so they could talk.

though camilla was ecstatic they were all here, but that lead her to wonder, would they be staying? she knew mike and eleven were, but she wasn’t sure about the other boys. surely they had lives to live back in their separate cities. 

“so, how long to you guys plan on staying?” she asked, finally wiping away that final tear.

“well, we’ve been all been staying with mike until we can find places of our own. you were always saying how important it is to stay close with those who are important to you. i’m pretty sure you told us that once a day the week we graduated. anyways, since we’ve all graduated university now, we thought, why don’t we just move here,” dustin explained, smiling as he watched camilla’s face light up.

and then the waterworks started again. camilla never thought she could have such an impact on anyone, and to know that she had at least a small impact on each of these kids, she feels like she’s done something right and that makes her beyond happy.

“oh my god,” she said in between tears, “i can’t believe this.”

“come on cam,” eleven said, “why don’t we go out for dinner or something, and let you process this a little more. sound good?”

camilla blew her nose one more time, “yeah. that sounds good.”

they all helped camilla organize some of her things before heading outside, where it was raining.

everytime it rained, camilla always remembers that day five years ago. she was standing in the rain, waiting for the bus, but something much much better arrived instead.

the telekinetic, eggo loving girl she grew to love like family. along with her now boyfriend mike and his loveable group of friends.

she would forever be thankful for that day, because if it wasn’t for that day, she wouldn’t be here in boston, doing what she loved.

_you would think this was a story about love. in some ways it is, but really, this story is about so much more than that._


End file.
